RI grooms six pairs for world bridge tournament
RI grooms six pairs for world bridge tournament
JAKARTA (JP): Fired up by a series of victories in the Far
East Bridge Federation Championship, Indonesia has set its sights
on winning a world title in the near future, says Indonesian
Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi) chairman Wiranto.
Indonesia, which was powerful in the Far East region for a
decade during the 1970s and 1980s, has now set itself the target
of winning a world title: either the Bermuda Bowl or the World
Junior championship.
"I think it's high time that we tried our best for a world
title," said Wiranto during a fast-breaking gathering on
Wednesday.
Through hard work and serious preparation, he said, Indonesia
could become the world champion within a few years.
Gabsi is grooming six pairs for the fifth World Junior Bridge
Championship, scheduled for July 8 to 17 in Bali.
Manado, North Sulawesi, is the country's powerhouse in this
'brain sport'. It dominated the nomination of the pairs,
supplying four out of the six pairs selected for the forthcoming
competition. The other two pairs were taken from Jakarta and from
Semarang, Central Java, with each city supplying two athletes.
The pairs are John Tumewu/Ananta Dapu (Manado), Jimmy
Boyoh/Polii (Jakarta), Taufik Nasution/Agus (Jakarta/Semarang),
Jimmy Angkow/Novry Kaligis (Minahasa), Frits Rajawane/Paulus
Palenewen (Manado), and Boy Roring/Willem Rumate (Minahasa).
The World Bridge Federation gave Indonesia the choice of
hosting one of the three world events to be organized this year,
which are the prestigious Bermuda Bowl, the symbol of world
supremacy in contract bridge; the Venice Cup, which is the
paramount bridge competition for women; and the world junior
championship.
Gabsi opted to host the junior competition because the bridge
organization believes that holding this event at home will boost
Indonesia's chances of winning a world title.
Seventeen teams will compete in the world junior
championships: four from the European zone, four from the North
American zone, two from the Latin American zone, two from the Far
Eastern zone and one from the Australian-New Zealand zone.
One bridge observer has said that the most challenging
opponents will be Denmark, the reigning champion; the other
European teams; and the American teams. "They are very powerful
and they will make the competition tougher," he said. (rsl)